Friday, the Day the Lights Went Out.

OK, I expected Friday to be a little loony. It is Spirit Week, the week of a Full Moon, Costume Day, there is a low pressure front coming in and it is the day before the Halloween weekend. I didn't expect much production out of the kids.

Unfortunately, because of the change in the weather, it was also very windy. LaPorte, the mostly rural town in which Cache La Poudre Junior High School sits, is sort of at the edge of Fort Collins and is prone to "less than dependable" electricity sometimes. With the wind kicking up, we had four power outages during the day. For some reason, when the power goes out at the school, the network is down for about an hour or so. This means that we spent almost the entire day without access to computers or the network.

Any plans that I had of productivity today were quickly dashed.

We played some "get to know you" games, some trivia games, we talked, we drew pictures on the board, the kids played hangman, etc. For my 8th period class, we found a "Computer Video" for the kids to watch. It was actually pretty good, although a little dated. To make the day slightly productive in a learning sense, I had the kids write me a paragraph at the end of the movie, indicating three things that they learned. By the end of the day, the network seemed to be up.

All in all, sort of a "throw-away" day in the North Fork Lab.

Thursday and I Start A Group Project.

Well, I have been thinking about this Group Project for my 1st Period 7th Graders for a week or so. I spent about 3 hours yesterday coming up with all of the materials needed.

Here is the basic idea:

We need to learn some computer terms in this introductory computer class. I have about 20 terms that the kids need to learn. The kids separate into teams of two and receive two terms for each group. One of the kids is to do some research and come up with an understandable, working definition for the group's words. The second team member is to take this definition and illustrate the definition on paper, so that the definition is understandable through pictures. Then, the team members recreate the illustration as part of a PowerPoint slide presentation. Once these are all put together, we will have a class presentation, with each kid describing one term for the class.

It took me about 15 minutes just to get the kids into groups. This is very hard to do in the Computer Lab, as there are huge counter desks all around the room, with another counter desk up the center of the room, with no way to walk around the center of the classroom. None of the counters move, so it is hard to form groups or circle up or anything in the classroom.

I was very surprised at the reaction of some of the kids to working in groups. At least two kids said that they refused to work in groups, because they were afraid that they would have to do all the work. Fortunately, they agreed to work together, which should be a good match. The three girls in the class (one girl has been absent now for 4 straight class periods.) were scared to death of working with some of the guys in the class, as they are loud and often obnoxious. Due to some rearranging, the girls are all working in one group together.

I thought that if we went down to the library, we could maybe get some background review down in a quiet fashion. It is a library, after all. No such luck. The kids (guys, mostly) were louder in the library than in the lab. We went back to North Fork. One guy, M., that had been needing constant redirection throughout the entire period, continued to goof off back in the lab as I tried to cover the instructions for the assignment. I went over to him and quietly said, "M., pack up, you're gone." He left the class for a 20 minute ISS (In School Suspension) and things seemed to settle down abit.

The "researchers" got to work on their definitions, while I briefed the "artists" on how the project is to look when finished.

Some of the kids just don't get it, though. One kid was looking up "LAN," a computer term referring to a series of connected computers in one area. He wrote down that LAN was "Local Area Network." Well, it is, but is that a definition? Not really. And how is his partner supposed to illustrate that definition? We talked about it and I think that he finally got the idea.

Why am I going through all of this craziness? Well, I am trying something new, just to see if I can do it. Computer projects at CLP are never group, always individual. I want to try a group project, just for the experience. I may never do another one as long as I live. We'll see.

Oh, and in 5th period, I was starving, having missed breakfast. I was drinking a Chocolate Energy drink for nutrients and spilled it all over myself. Yuk.

Wednesday Is Just So Ghetto*...

Wednesdays suck.

Yeah, I know, Tuesdays used to suck, but now Wednesdays suck more. I got up at 6:00 a.m., showered, ate and took off for school. Got here at about 7:00 a.m. I spent about 30 minutes finishing off my lesson plan and agenda for my 8th period class. Then the kids came in.

Not sure what was up, but the kids were nuts.

Mr. Jewett says that that is a cold front coming in and weather changes really mess up the kids. It was also "Dress Hawaiian" day for Spirit Week. The kids were climbing the walls all day. Just stepping out into the hallway during passing period was taking your life into your hands. Our lab is on the 7th Grade hallway and they were howling, wailing, gesticulating. In our 8th period class, Mr. Jewett came in to give some instructions on how to upload their Publisher files to the webserver. With step by step instructions going over all 4 steps of the process (like copy this file to this folder...) we had only 5 kids out of 20 get the task accomplished in 10 minutes. Yikes.

I started eating Tylenol by the start of 6th period. They didn't help much.

After school, I had to work on my Classroom Management Plan, which was due quite awhile back. I got that wrapped up at about 4:00 p.m. I got home in time to bundle the kids up and head to the University for seminar, which starts at 5:00 p.m. Julia's kids were not there and all of the local classrooms were filled with classes, so Emma and Spencer had nowhere to go. I tried to keep them occupied at the back of the Project Promise classroom, but was mostly unsuccessful.

The cohort talked about class rules, bathroom passes, disturbed kids and being dictators. It sounds like alot of us are having the same problems with our kids, they are tough to control. Sometimes, that dictator option doesn't sound all that bad...

Emma and Spencer took off down our little hallway during our break, trying to blow off some steam. Apparently, Spencer played with the door to some classroom, and the instructor for the class came and chewed me out. I was pretty irritated already, so I just packed everyone up and came home.

I dozed on the couch for 45 minutes or so while the kids watched TV. I was beat. Then, I had to get the kids ready for bed. From 9:00 p.m. until about 12:00 midnight, I worked on my lesson plan for 1st Period Thursday.

Just another 16 hour day...

*"ghetto" appears to be a Junior High vernacular meaning "crappy."

Oh, and you can call me....

One of the kids in our 5th Period class has been asking me for help a lot recently. He is doing well putting together his "About Me" and Business websites, he just needs some help sometimes. This afternoon, he called for some help, but I was with another student. I got to him about 5 minutes later. He said, "Hey, I figured it out by myself, because you weren't coming to help me!" He sounded a little irritated. "Hey, that's great!" I said. He looked perplexed, but started thinking about it. A few seconds later, he said, "Yeah, I guess that is pretty cool..."

Unfortunately, he always seems to get my name wrong. Lately, he has given up and started calling me...

...Mr. Braveheart.

Haha.

You can just call me "William Wallace."

Getting Really Annoyed.

As I was saying, then, we had our "Business Methods" class. You remember me bitching for two posts about the recent "Flash Project" that was due today. I spent about 7-8 hours of my life on this stupid thing, finally pounding out a decent work yesterday afternoon and sending it in electronically.

Guess what? Sometime on Sunday, our instructor posted a notice to our class electronic bulletin board (that has about 70 or so posts on it) indicating that she was calling off the assignment. I knew nothing about it. Robert knew nothing about it. Shelby knew nothing about it. We all busted our ass to complete this stupid assignment. Robert gave up a day in the mountains with his family to work on it Sunday.

Dr. Yohon said today that "she might give us some extra credit for turning the assignment in when we didn't have to."

You know what, that doesn't really cut it for me. The assignment was worth 100 points out of our 700 points possible for the quarter, I put 8 hours of work and alot of frustration in the project, I want 100 points! Argh!

On top of that, Dr. Yohon's friend Patsy was in class again, talking about her student organization. She spent 1 1/2 hours going on an on about advisory committees, CITs, whose kids she is teaching in her classes and how her student teacher is networking for jobs and a bunch of other B.S. We talked after class and none of us have any idea what she was talking about.

The whole experience is really souring all of us on teaching business education. From what I can tell, a high school business teacher has to teach a whole slate full of classes and then conduct these Student Organizations: hosting meetings, finding sponsors, organizing committees, attending conferences, practicing for competitions, etc. All for no additional pay. I'd rather be a Badminton Coach.

I am more and more liking the idea of being a Junior High School student. All of this extra High School stuff is really turning me off.

CLP Today, Really Hard Simpsons Stuff.

Hi.

It's Tuesday. Traditionally one of the lousiest days of the week. I got to CLP this morning at 7:15 a.m., ready for my 1st period class. It went well. We played a little warm-up game having to do with visual perception. The kids loved it. Then, we got to work on the balance of the Scavenger Hunts. Most of the "Skateboard" kids are plowing through it, as are the "Cute Guys" kids (most of the girls and one guy.) The "Simpsons" kids are in a world of hurt. This is by far the hardest of the three Scavenger Hunts and for the most part, the less advanced kids in the class are working on this Hunt. I have had to carve back the expectations on this a little bit. Who knew that the Simpson's could be so tough?

Want a taste? Try finding the answers to these Simpson's Trivia Questions online:

• What is the address of the Simpson house?


• In the thrilling two-part cliffhanger "Who Shot Mr. Burns" what
  was the motive for gunning down Springfield's evil billionaire nuclear-plant
  owner?


• How long does it take to create one episode of the Simpsons?


• What is the cheapest you can find a copy of the Simpsons Monopoly game for
  sale online?


• What famous actor played Sideshow Bob?


• Name five characters on the Simpsons voiced by actor Hank Azaria?


• How did the Simpsons get “Santa’s Little Helper”?


• Describe three different “couch gags” from The Simpsons?


• How much is a “Triple Double Burger” at the Krusty Burger drive-thru?


• What is the license plate number on Marge’s car?

We had Mr. Denise in class again today, going over the use of tables as the foundations for websites. I really enjoy having him in class as a new teacher, as I am getting a new perspective on Classroom Discipline. Apparently, he and Mr. Jewett will be switching classes through next week, so that they have time to finish their projects.

Fifth period was Computer Productions and the kids are finishing up their business websites.

Then we had our "Business Methods" class at CSU and things went right down the toilet.

Flash and I, Not Getting Along.

We have another "Computer Applications" project due on Tuesday for our Business Methods class. This time, it is an analysis of the Macromedia Flash program. If you remember me bitching about this program before, it is a "Multimedia" application, incorporating visuals, sounds, etc. to create movies and animations.

I have tried to work on this program three times over the last two weeks, but have failed miserably each time. I was about to give up and turn in a failed experiment with my project (which might have been ok, I don't know.) One of my students, however, is very good at Flash and offered to give me a quick walk-through. With him on one computer and me on the next, he showed me some of the basics. I would watch, then do. In about 4 minutes, he got me up to speed. There is still tons of stuff that I don't know about the program, but I managed to put together a little animation of my name, complete with flying balls, melting boxes and "X Marks the Spot." It is a neat program. I struggle with it, as I have a hard time visualizing things that are yet to be.

My 8th period class starts a Flash project in a couple of days. They are to animate a story, complete with a moral, using Flash. I need more study.

It's Monday and I'm Teaching History.

Today was Monday. On Monday, we have all 8 periods during the day and things tend to be nutsy. I started with my 1st period class, setting them up for typing. The kids type on Monday, as usual.

The fun started during 3rd Period, however. Mr. Denise, who built the CLP technology department over the last 10 years, is now teaching History. However, he is not an Ancient History buff. Mr. Jewett, who also used to be a History teacher, is. For this week, they have decided to switch classes, with Mr. Denise teaching our Graphics and Web Design class Style Templates, and Mr. Jewett teaching Mr. Denise' World History course about the Ancient Greeks.

Mr. Denise is famous at CLP for being very tough, but fair. He does not take any bullshit in his class and has been known to have a quick trigger finger when it comes to throwing kids out of class for being disruptive. He demands the full attention of the kids and gets it. This is neat to watch. He started the class with a short 4 minute review of his "classroom rules." His way or the highway, in essence. The interesting thing is that most kids really like him as a teacher.

Anyway, Mr. Denise started his presentation on color theory and style as it applies to websites. Good stuff. The kids hung on his every word. I have been sitting in the lab with the rest of the kids, following along on the lesson and working on "the Museum Project" that Mr. Denise is guiding.

After class, I asked if it would be ok for me to go to his next class with him, as I had a planning period. He said, "Sure." He was starting a unit regarding the Electoral College. On the way to his room, I told him of a neat analogy regarding the Electoral College, comparing the system to the World Series. He said, "Hey, that's a great example!"

In his class, Mr. Denise began his lecture with the birth of the nation, covering the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, etc. He then got to an overview of the Electoral College system. Some kids seem to get it, some didn't. Mr. Denise then says, "Well, let's see if Mr. Burkhard can explain it another way." Quick mini-lesson time! As I went up to the front of the class to go over my example, some of the kids that are in my other classes started cheering. That was fun!

I went over my analogy, using the World Series as the comparison. Let's say that the Red Sox win World Series games by the scores 11-9, 10-0 and 12-2, while the Cardinals win games by the scores of 2-0, 2-1, 2-1 and 1-0. If you add up the runs scored by each team, the Red Sox have scored 35 runs and the Cards have scored 18. As anyone knows, the winning team in a game is the team that scores more runs. So the Red Sox win the Series, right? Of course not. The Series is decided by which team wins the most games out of seven. Total runs scored is immaterial. Games won is the only deciding factor. Much like the Electoral College deciding the President of the United States. Total popular vote is not what matters, what matters is the allocation of electoral votes from each of the states. Some kids seemed to get it when I explained the process in this way.

It was alot of fun.

Moving on to later in the day, I took over the 8th period class today. I spent about the first half of the period going over my rules and regulations for the classroom and we spent the rest of the time finishing up the current project, a "Future Technologies" website. Next up for the class, "Flash." Argh.